Abstract

Stability of Alkanethiols on Gold
Coleman, Dwayne L.; Kruszewski, Kristen M.; Gawalt Ellen S.
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Duquesne University

The stability of thiols on gold is a subject of interest in the fields of chemistry and electronics. This is due to their widespread application in technologies such as bio-sensors and electrodes. Our ongoing work is to develop stable films of various thiol molecules on the surface of gold with different tail groups. 11-mercaptoundecanol, 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid, and mercaptoundecane, were used to form self-assembled monolayers. Solution deposition methods were utilized, and the substrates were analyzed using Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform Spectroscopy, to confirm film deposition and film stability after solvent rinse, as well as Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry, to determine monolayer versus multilayer film coverage .